Johns Hopkins opens inquiry into the reason why POPLINE restricted the word 'abortion' on Database
By John Amato Thursday Apr 03, 2008 2:45pmThis is good news. We all took action and the results followed. C&L thanks Michael J. Klag for his handling of the situation on POPLINE so quickly.
Here's the letter posted on Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health:
I was informed this morning that the word "abortion" was blocked as a search term in the POPLINE family planning database administered by the Bloomberg School’s Center for Communication Programs. POPLINE provides evidence-based information on reproductive health and family planning and is the world’s largest database on these issues.
USAID, which funds POPLINE, found two items in the database related to abortion that did not fit POPLINE criteria. The agency then made an inquiry to POPLINE administrators. Following this inquiry, the POPLINE administrators at the Center for Communication Programs made the decision to restrict abortion as a search term.
I could not disagree more strongly with this decision, and I have directed that the POPLINE administrators restore "abortion" as a search term immediately. I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred.
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and not its restriction.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH
Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Why would anyone restrict the word 'abortion' on a government funded data base with thousands upon thousands of articles for research ? I'm very interested to see how that decision was reached. Yea, I know---I'll be nice for now, but I'll keep on it....Many thanks to Women's Health News for the heads up and the many emails I received on this issue.
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What were the two items, and why wasn't deleting those two items sufficient? The "explanation" is BS.
Why? Simple. Anyone that would block this term is a narrow minded Neocon radical with an major political ax to grind. These despicable goons need to practice their smug and self righteous politics elsewhere.
Thanks for being an advocate for open and honest discourse John.
Integrity is something that seems to be in short supply. And whether one approves of abortion or not, removing references to it, would not make it go away.
Psst...you want, you know, an abortion? I can make one, cheap.
They probably just didn't want the American Family Assc after their ass.
Alright, score 1 for the good guys!
What's the score now?
1 to (information restriced via Executive Privilege)
It's a TECHNICAL glitch. Really, it's a technical glitch. You must believe me, it's a technical glitch caused by over typing or wrong typo entered or unintended blocking by our COTS (off the shelf) firewall software. It's all unintentional, it's really a technical glitch.....
.
Well, if THEY(who hate us for our freedoms) can't do away with Roe V. Wade, THEY(sic) will try to make it near impossible to get necessary information concerning the matter that Roe V. Wade allows.
.
"Aborton" is on the list of words to be banned. In addition to drinking bleach to prevent AIDS, America's youth use will come up with a new slang term for ending unwanted pregnancy with a coat hanger. America is the land of ingenuity, afterall.
John Amato:
That's really not necessary, John. Sorry, my impatience is showing.
BTW, when did Johns Hopkins become Johns Hopkins Bloomberg? Or is that just the name of a school within Johns Hopkins?
To even think you can tell a person what they can and cannot do with their bodies is a crime.
If pregnancy happened to men, none of this would ever be discussed ever... Tell a man that you have a growing thing inside them than is going to put them off their feet for several months and require 18 years to pay off.
They would say "uhh... fuck you."
And I would too, and any woman should have access to medical treatment. Anything less is making second class citizens from our women.
So blacks, browns, yellows are already "fucked" by the system of institutional racism and now institutional sexism.
Great world america. How is that "land of the free home of the brave" thing?
I don't see brave, and I don't see free.
60 million Americans don't have access to healthcare and people are fixated on "popline".
[[[2 bmw H. 528 Says]]]: Why? Simple. Anyone that would block this term is a narrow minded Neocon radical with an major political ax to grind. These despicable goons need to practice their smug and self righteous politics elsewhere.
**===>>>> OR, not at all, but elsewhere works for me too. (Note: Stay away from Canada though. Not welcome.)
If it is a mistake it is a mistake.
If it is not a mistake Johns Hopkins is going to hammer those responsible.
Edwin Hussein (a boo$h booer) @ 13:
Good point, not at all would certainly be the best solution.
After they wrap this one up they'll take on the equally challenging inquiry into how a donut disappeared from Bill Clinton's desk
Considering that this was discovered by accident, I wonder what else is being censored on the popline database.
Finally, a Win for Science! Someone needs to tell whoever restricts any kind of information that they forget that "Knowledge is Power!" ( or do they really "forget"?)
Edwin Hussein (a boo$h booer) @ 9:
We already have names for that procedure:
sepsis
perforated uterus
premature death of a young ( or poor, or desperate) girl
"do it yourself" sterilization following internal scarring.
The real story is that the Server was dodging sniper fire that day and banned that word purely my mistake.
Max-Hussein-1 @ 8:
the only people that I see that hate us for our freedom are employees of this administration
"USAID, which funds POPLINE, found two items in the database related to abortion that did not fit POPLINE criteria."
HEH. And what exactly were those criteria? The word is offensive to wingnuts, evangelists and Christian Scientists?
This was no mistake, other than a mistake in judgement and common sense. There was an active decision made to block the word "abortion" because of the federal funds. The woman who is in charge of the database specifically said "We made the decision."
the look of love from the bush administration's restriction of knowledge
this smacks of george orwell's "1984" and govt speak
tell them what you want them to hear and remove everything else.
LibertyLover @ 18:
That has been replace with "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
We interrupt this comment box for a late-breaking news flash!
From the REAGAN DIARIES entry dated May 17, 1986.
"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida; the one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."
Why would anyone restrict the word ‘abortion’ on a government funded data base with thousands upon thousands of articles for research ?
Are you kidding? Who the f**k do you think controls the government?
Faux pro lifers who murder women and children (aka suspected militants and collateral damage).
Dan-in-PA @ 3:
Rather like the post natal abortion policy being carried out in Iraq by the neowarpigs.
[No matter how shady, Mark Penn is NOT the topic here. Feel free to suggest a story via email (links on the left), or discuss freely on an open thread. Or a thread ABOUT Mark Penn. Thanks-Sitemonitor]
Finnigan @ 29:
[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
White Male, Jew of Liberal Fascism @ 26:
LOL!
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg, formerly Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, part of Johns Hopkins University.
It's really not worth beating up the folks who work there. As a USAID funded program working in the field of health and reproductive issues, they have to compete for their funding. The bottom line is that Bush sent a HUGE amount of funding to Christian Right organizations that promote Abstinence only programs. As a result, these organization faced major cut-backs and did what they could to appease the Bush appointees. And consequently a number of people lost their jobs.
fiver @ 10:
freedom of information
free distribution of information and research
so what other ideas/concepts/words are being censored??
Damn! I just checked out the alleged Reagan diary quote about W, and it was sadly an internet hoax. Sorry!
But this, on the other hand, is absolutely real:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/02/george-w-bush-sewage-pla_n_9460...
There's a group in San Francisco currently trying to get a sewage plant renamed the 'George W Bush Sewage Plant".
White Male, Jew of Liberal Fascism @ 34:
A mini holographic projector with all our fav perps projecting into the water closet, and a sound module that screams when you flush.
Restricting the nasty 'a' word on a family planning database... And this is suppose to make sense because??..... Hmmm, well maybe they just want to promote more 'science' based concepts... You know, like drinking bleach to prevent aids, (watch out for that killer indigestion) and smoking pot to prevent pregnancy..( I guess the theory there is you'll be too busy eating fruit loops and sleeping to screw), you know, tried and proven scientific concepts like that....or not...PFFFT What a bunch of pinheaded bullshit.................... JD
I'm not sure it's related, but I also got no results from the following search string:
"lawsuits resulting from religious interference in public information databases"
;-D
Thanks Aaron.
popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion popline family planning abortion
ANYONE LOOKING FOR REAL ADVICE ON YOUR OPTIONS.... PLEASE DO NOT LOOK TO POPLINE
if you don't have the kids, where will JOHN "THE REPUBLICAN" MCCAIN get bodies for his war?
i paraphrase a great man: plymouth rock landed on us.
Liberal AND Proud @ 22:
Yes, as a physician, that relates to what my next question would be, "what were the two items, which criteria did they fail to meet? Depending on the answers, a question of how the criteria were formulated, and by whom, or on what basis did these items fail to meet the designated criteria would come next.
Finally, how does the failure of two articles to meet database inclusion standards translate into the striking of an English language word from the search terms? I will be very interested to see if a public answer to this question is offered before the public loses sight of and interest in the episode.
This type of political debasing of scientific inquiry is among the most abhorrent of Buschco repeat offenses, as it not only adversely affects people today, but will almost certainly damage human progress for generations to come.
Simply disgusting. What is more disgusting is how so many have just taken it laying down, how very few have put their careers on the line in defense of intellectual honesty, how those few who have paid a price lack the support they need to overcome it, and how so-called centers of higher learning flock to hire the worst offenders (Yoo).
Somewhere not too long ago, I read a quote that went something like this: "All that was required for the Nazis to carry out their murderous plans was for ordinary citizens to limit their involvement to reflect their own narrow interests." The degradation of academia under BushCo is a glaring example of that same process underway in America.
Obviously it is because of my email:
To: Debra L. Dickson
POPLINE Database Manager/Administrator
INFO Project
111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202
ddickson@jhuccp.org
Tel: 410-659-6300 / Fax: 410-659-6266
Dear Ms. Dickson
(is that some kind of Freudian slip or something?)I have come across an article (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/03/popline-restricts-the-word-abor...) that informed me that it is virtually impossible for a normal thinking human being to search your POPLINE database (the world’s largest database on reproductive health) for information about abortion. This is a public database and I find it quite disturbing that people cannot easily find citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues in your database on your website which is there for that exact purpose. I would like to know why this has happened. I am sure not everybody who goes to your site to research the database is doing so with "abortion” in mind I feel that abortion is a very real part of reproductive health. My money went into that database and I expect to be able to access it in a way that a normal person would think is the best way to do it.
Just think; If Barbara Bush was able to access this database in what seems like so many years ago we may not be going through the problems we are experiencing at this time in the Unites States of America.I hope to receive a response from you in the very near future advising me that this problem (with the database haha) has been corrected. I wish to report back to my readers that the problem has been addressed and repaired.Sincerely,
Captain KangarooMr. GreenjeansI did send the email but I thank John Amato for bringing this to our attention. Another reason why the MSM is loosing it's audience.
An email address for Dr. Klag would be nice so that I can acknowledge his response to the problem.
SO there must be a list of these "Offensive terms" I for one want to see what else is on this list.
No, no, no it is "IGNORANCE IS INTELLIGENCE"
CoIntelPro - against Divisive Democrats Says: LibertyLover @ 18:
That has been replace with “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”
Captain Kangaroo @ 44:
His announcement lists Tim Parson as the contact person. I sent Dr. Klagg an email with a reworked inquiry based on my above post at this address: tmparsonatjhsphdotedu
DHSmd @ 47:
I did find that. Thank you.
But...but...[invoking best Helen Lovejoy voice] Won't somebody think of the children!
You see, if we don't talk about things or if we pretend things don't exist then we don't have to confuse our poor, overworked brains thinking troubling thoughts like "we make sure they're born but once they're out of the womb they're on their own."
The tapdance around this *will* be entertaining to watch however. I'm going with "independent-contractor-who-is-no-longer-with-the-agency".
"I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred..."
which will be enormously interesting. Please keep on front burner.
Proud to be a Hopkins alum! Happy to see the alma mater sticking up for nonpartisan medicine and public health.
anon @ 51:
Clearly, the institution has a stellar reputation that spans several administrations. I would hope that those who are decision-makers there would have enough of a commitment to the principles of scientific inquiry to rectify this, quickly and completely. However, they are not the kind of broad-based and well-endowed school that can weather the scandalous abandonment of intellectual integrity without suffering consequences. I would THINK that their own self-interests would demand the same kind of action, with the addition of full public disclosure of the findings of their investigation and their resulting actions - within the constraints of personnel confidentiality requirements. (the latter being moot if there is criminal action involved.)
Dr. Klags response raises a number of questions:
1. What are the two POPLINE items which he believes did not fit?
2. Are those two items still in the POPLINE database?
3. Has USAID ever objected to any other POPLINE items? If so, what items? And for what reasons?
4. Have POPLINE administrators ever blocked, or are they currently blocking any other search term? If so, what terms?
This is the neo-conservative anti-reason equivalent of the scientific method, the obscurantific method. It shows up in everything they do. Most notably, one can find obscurance practiced by professional obscurantist at their well trodden museum of creationism. Nearly every aspect of their existence can be found replete with obscurity of thought. And it's not thought literally speaking, it's unthinking literatim for those who are mentally slothful, ignorant, small minded enough to be proud of it. After all, when the bible says that pi is 3, ya don't go invent'n fractions to improve on it, cause it ain't Christian like.
Good one!
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